About us

What is public value?

Public value isn’t defined by the loudest voices – it’s created when communities are heard, when decisions serve the common good, and when people work together to strengthen the social fabric.

It’s about building something stronger, together; not just for today, but for generations to come.

How can we strengthen public value?

At Public Value Studio we work to strengthen participation in both invited and empowered spaces.

Each space is powerful in its own right, but they call for different approaches. Invited spaces require careful design to ensure participation is meaningful, while empowered spaces need support that respects autonomy and amplifies community leadership.

Public Value Studio brings expertise to design participatory processes in invited spaces, and the skill to support empowered spaces through approaches that honour community leadership, self-determination, and collective action.

Invited spaces

These are created by governments or organisations, they are structured processes where communities are invited to contribute their knowledge and lived experience to influence decisions.

Empowered spaces

These spaces are self-organised and community-led, they are driven by people coming together on their own terms to create change.

Our values

Our work is grounded in core values that shape everything we do. These reflect who we are, what we stand for, and how we approach working together with clients and community.

  • We invite people in and engage them in shaping what matters.
  • We celebrate communities and champion bold ideas for change.
  • We act with integrity and give in the spirit of reciprocity.
  • We value the change that comes from everyday contribution.
  • We build connection through genuine collaboration.
  • We explore new ideas and experiment to learn and grow.
creating public value

Who we are

Meet Dr Emanuela Savini, Director

Emanuela is both a researcher and practitioner, dedicated to supporting people to participate in decisions that affect their lives and to create the change they want to see in their communities.

With a background in local government, she understands intimately the challenges and constraints faced by institutions, and is skilled at bridging the two worlds. Her work is grounded in finding shared purpose and practical ways forward, creating opportunities where communities and organisations can work together toward meaningful outcomes. She’s known for keeping momentum alive, championing community members, and staying connected long after a program ends, because the relationships built through this work truly matter.

Emanuela is also the Practice Lead for Democracy and Citizen Engagement at the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra. Her research explores how governments adapt and embed engagement practices, with a strong focus on building the capacity for democratic innovations within public institutions.

emanuela savini

Our collaborators

We collaborate with a diverse mix of skilled associates, partners, and community members – brought together in response to the unique needs of each project. These exceptional people can be found in our case studies.

We also believe the wisdom of lived experience should be at the centre of the work so we often invite community members into professional roles, recognising and valuing their knowledge with appropriate compensation.